


Defiance

by Pink_Tinted_Monocle



Category: Black Sails
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 09:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10784463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pink_Tinted_Monocle/pseuds/Pink_Tinted_Monocle
Summary: They lasted three weeks at the plantation before James set fire to something.





	Defiance

They lasted three weeks at the plantation before James set fire to something.

Much of the first week was spent in a delirious haze of exhaustion and bliss, but during the second James began to take stock of his situation.  The weather was warm, the work hard but no too strenuous, meals were regular and sleep was plentiful – it would have been idyllic, had it not been a prison.  But a prison it was, and he had been at liberty from society’s rules and regulations for too long to go back to being held captive by them.  Even if he had let Flint return to the sea, James McGraw was still a man well versed in defiance and he found he could not truly be at peace until he had the freedom to live as he saw fit.

Uncertain of how to broach the subject with Thomas he had tried to be subtle.  As they had lain together at night, he mentioned that a few of their fellow inmates had lately fixed him with unfriendly stares.

“It is not surprising”, Thomas had said.  “Many of them are here for the same reason as us, only they have no hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.  It is understandable that they may resent us somewhat.”

“All the same.  They could cause trouble for us.”

Thomas had looked up at him then with those big blue eyes.  “You want to leave this place.  And not just because of the others.”

James had just nodded dumbly, surprised that Thomas could still read him so easily after all these years.

“Good.  Shall we say a week or so?  That should give us ample time to formulate a plan.”

James, a little shocked, had just nodded again before finding his voice.  “I thought you might not want to leave.  That you had grown accustomed to life here.”

“I’ve wanted to leave here since the moment I stepped through those gates.”

“Then why didn’t you ever try?”

“Because”, Thomas had said as he pulled James a little closer, “I thought it would be easier for you to find me if I stayed in one place.”

 

**********************************************************************************

The plan was simple.  James set a fire in one of the sugarcane fields on the far side of the plantation, and as the owner and guards rushed over to help extinguish it he slipped away and ran towards the owner’s house.  Thomas was already there when he arrived, preparing to set a second fire.  “Is it done?”

“Yes, we should have at least ten minutes before they notice our absence and return here.”  He leant down for what he intended to be a quick kiss, but Thomas grabbed the back of his head and deepened it.  When they eventually pulled apart Thomas’ face was flushed and his eyes were bright and James had to resist the urge to abandon their plan and just take him there on the floor.

“I have the keys for the main gate and there is a pistol on the desk.  Could you light the fire?”  Thomas asked as he stepped away towards a large bookcase in the corner of the room.  “There is one last thing I need to get before we leave.”

James tucked the gun into his belt then struck the match and threw it to the ground, and as the flames began to lick at the furniture they hurried outside.

“What was it that you fetched just then?” James enquired, and Thomas pressed a book into his hands.  Before James even glanced at the spine he knew the words that he would find there.  _Meditations_ by Marcus Aurelius.

“To replace our old copy.”  Thomas said with a smile. 

James leaned forward, resting their foreheads together.  “ _How lucky that I am not broken by what has happened”._

_“And am not afraid of what is about to happen_ ”, Thomas murmured softly before he stepped back.  “We should go.  They will be here soon, with guns…”

James pulled the pistol from his belt.  “Then it is lucky that you have the best shot in the Caribbean to look out for you.”

Thomas grinned and they shared a final kiss before they turned towards the gates.

“Come on”, said James, as he took Thomas’ hand in his.  “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written because I am genuinely still reeling from the Black Sails finale and I just needed to get my feelings for these two down in writing, and also because I can't believe they would have stayed on that plantation for long once they were back together!
> 
> Quotation is from 'The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of the Meditations' by C. Scot Hicks, David V. Hicks (2002).


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